Marta and Manu are actresses and best friends who decide to travel from Brazil to Russia to study Stanislavski, the pioneer of the acting method. A quest for reinvention— both artistic and personal— ensues against the backdrop of a majestic and complicated Russian winter: blizzards, quarrels, passions, and liters of vodka. In the end, acting becomes a means by which the girls transcend both their characters and themselves, driven by a strict instructor who brings them to their limits.

Charly Braun's second feature floats between documentary and fiction with the adventurousness and abandon of its young protagonists, exploring the nuances of female friendship and artistry in a foreign land. Vermelho Russo (Russian Red) is the first ever Brazilian-Russian film co-production and premiered at Ourense, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where it won Best Screenplay.

In an exclusive essay for Filmatique, Dr. Paula Halperin explores performance and the melding of reality with art in Charly Braun's second feature Vermelho Russo (Russian Red).

Press

"Russian Red is a poetic title that means a lot of thing and nothing at the same time. When Charly went to a dean to ask permission to film at his school, the man was very offended by the title and wanted to know the reason for the name. Charly invented something like the "red of passion and strength," then came to ask me the meaning. I was afraid to tell the truth. "It's the color of my lipstick, Charly, Russian Red." It's just MAC's name for matte red, but for me it's so much more. Russians hate the title, for them Russian Red is blood red, it is the communist red, the red of war, of death, of the old. If the movie opens there, there is no possibility that the title will be the same. Russian Red is a name that fights old pains, but for me, it seems very current"